Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1887-09-01

"a~ StAAAN0 ~ ~ uCSlLc IOK
some way linking my name with tha,
OF my native State, it not with nv
lands language But | never ex-
Pected to do this with one single,
supreme effort, and no one was more
surprised than / Was at the wide
spread and instantaneous popularity
OF the lyric l had been so strangely
stimulated to write" Mr. Randall
read the poem the next morning to
the college boys, and at their susees.
tion sent it to the Dcla, in which i,
was first printed. and from which II
was copied into nearly every Southern
journal. 81 did not concern myself
much about it," Mr.. Randall add,
"but very soon, from all parts of the
country, there was borne to me, in my
remote place Of residence, evidence
that | had made a great hit, and that,
whatever might be the fate of the
Con;ederacy, the song would survive
it.
Published in the last days of April,
1861, when every eye was fixed on
the border States, the string stanzas
OF the Tyrt@an bard appeared in the
very nick of time. There is often a
feeling ahoat in the minds of men,
underlined and vague for want of one
to give it form, and held in solution,
as 1t We're, until chance word drop
ped In the ear of poet suddenly
crysta!lzes this feeling into song, in
which all may see clearly and sharply
reflected what in their own thought
was shapeless and hazy. 1t w,s Mr..
Randalls good fortune to be the in
strument through which the South
spoke. BY a natural reaction his
burning lines helped "to fire the
Southern heart" To do their work
well, his words need to be welded to
music. Unlike the authors of the
Star Spangled Banner" and the
"Marseillaise, the author Of "My
Mary yland' had not written it to fit
a tune already familiar. 1t was lef,
for lady Of Baltimore to lend the
lyric the musical wings it needed 10
enable 1t to reach every campfire Of
the Southern armies. To the courtesy
of this lady, then Miss Hetty Cary,
and now the wife of Prof. II. Newell
Martin, Of Johns Hopkins University,
| am indebted for picturesque de-
scriptlon OF the marriage Of the words
to the music, and of the first singing
Of the song before the Southern troops. |
The house of Mrs. Martins father
was the headquarters for the Southern
sympathizers OF Baltimore. Cores.
pondence, money, clothing, supplies
Of all kinds went thence through the |
lines to the young aen of the city
who had Joined the Confederate army.
The enthusiasm Of the girls who
worked and of the boys who watch.
ed for their chance to slip through !
the lines to Dixie's land found vent
and inspiration in such patriotic song-
as could be made or adapted to suit !
our needs. The glee club was to hold !
its meeting in our parlors one even.
ing early in June, aud my sister, Miss
Jennie Cary, being the only musical
member of the family, had charge of
the programme on the occasion. With
a schoolgirls eagernesa to score a
success, she resolved to secure some
new and ardent expression of feelings
that by this time were wrought up to
the point Of explosion. In vain she
searched through her stock of song.
and airs-nothing seemed intense
enough to suit her. Aroused by her
tone OF despair, came to the rescue
with the suggestion that she should
adapt the words of Maryland Ny
Maryland, which had been constant.
ly on my lips since the appearance Of
the lyric a few days before in the
South. l produced the paper and be-
gan declaiming the verses. Lauriger
Horatius " she exclaimed, and in a
flash the immortal song found voice
In the stirring air so perfectly adapt
ed to it. That night, when her con
tralto voice rang out the stanzas, the
refrain rolled forth from every throat
present without pause or preparation;
and the enthusiasm communicated it.
self with such effect to a crowd as
sembled beneath our open windows
as 10 endanger seriously the liberties
OF the party.
A few weeks after the wedding OF
the words and the music, Mrs. Mar tin,
with her brother and sister, went
through the lines. conveying several
trunks full Of military clothing, and
wearing concealed about her person
flag bearing the arms of Maryland,
a gift from the ladies Of Baltimore to